This invention is generally related to a cabinet for pocket machinery and in particular to a cabinet for a pocket machine having a liquid crystal display such as a television.
Recently, liquid crystal displays have been used in television sets instead of conventional CRT based systems. In particular, transmissive liquid crystal display members have attracted attention because of their potential for use as a pocket color television display and other related uses.
Reference is made to FIG. 1 wherein the manner in which transmissive liquid crystal displays operate is depicted. A light 2 is applied to a display member 1 from the back side of display member 1. An observer 3 sees the transmitted light as displayed information. The liquid crystal display member selectively allows portions of display member 1 to transmit light whereas other portions of display member 1 are opaque and prevent transmission of light 2.
Reference is next made to FIG. 2 wherein a conventional cabinet structure for liquid crystal display devices, constructed in accordance with the present invention is depicted. A transmissive liquid crystal display member 12 is located adjacent to the front of a cabinet 11 and a luminous member 13 is located behind liquid crystal display member 12. Luminous member 13 generates a light 14 which is applied to the back of liquid crystal display member 12 and an observer sees the displayed information as bright and dark regions illuminated by light 14 transmitted through liquid crystal display member 12.
The cabinet structure of FIG. 2 requires a relatively large amount of electrical power to provide luminous member 13 with electricity inside of cabinet 11. The power needed to drive luminous member 13 is relatively large, usually about 1 watt. Even if this power consumption is reduced to less than 1 watt, the power used to backlight liquid crystal display member 12 is not negligible. Especially where dry cell batteries are used as the power source, battery life is significantly shortened as a result of the power used to drive luminous member 13.
Accordingly, there is a need to increase the battery life of a pocket liquid crystal display by using ambient light, such as solar light, to back light the transmissive display member. However, there is also a need to include a luminous member in the cabinet for viewing situations where there is insufficient ambient light to produce a bright display.